Systems and methods for screening asymptomatic virus emitters

ABSTRACT

A method comprising at least one light source configured to generate a light of at least one wavelength and project the light over an optical path, a sample device, the device containing a sample obtained from exhalation of a person, a vortex mask configured to receive the light after the light passes through at least a portion of the sample device, the vortex mask including a series of concentric circles etched in a substrate, the vortex mask configured to provide destructive interference of coherent light received from the at least one light source, a detector configured to detect and measure wavelength intensities from the light in the optical path, the wavelength intensities being impacted by the light passing through the sample, the detector receiving the light that remained after passing through the vortex mask, and a processor configured to provide measurement results based on the wavelength intensities.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/061,539, filed Oct. 1, 2020, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FORSCREENING ASYMPTOMATIC VIRUS EMITTERS” which receives the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Application No. 63/080,653, filed Sep. 18, 2020,entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCREENING ASYMPTOMATIC VIRUSEMITTERS,” and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/017,618, filed Apr.29, 2020, entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR SCREENING ASYMPTOMATIC VIRUSEMITTERS” both of which are incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure pertains to secure systems for noninvasive healthscreening and, more specifically, a spectrometer with a vortex mask toimprove signal detection of infection of noninvasively acquired samples.

BACKGROUND

During a pandemic and the aftermath, it is vital to identify infectedpeople so that they can be effectively quarantined to reduce the spreadof the virus. Multiple testing methods have been developed to diagnoseviral infections, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR),enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunoflourescent assay, and others.However, these methods are impractical when it comes to wide-scalescreening because of lack of speed, lack of accuracy, lack of resources,and cost. As seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, when attempting to screenlarge populations, reagent supplies become depleted, and current testingmethodologies take days to return a result back to a patient. Due to thelimited supply of test equipment, testing is performed on people whoactively present symptoms and self-identify. The testing is primarilyused to verify the diagnosis.

Relying on a person to present symptoms is a significant challenge forcontainment because of the reliance on a person's immune system'sresponse to the virus (such as running a fever or developing apersistent dry cough). In the case of COVID-19, infected people may becontagious but asymptomatic during the virus' long incubation period(e.g., 2-14 days). The long incubation period has made the virus nearlyimpossible to contain and has required governments to take strong actionto reduce the spread. These strong actions include orders for long-termshelter-in-place and social distancing until a vaccine can be developedand deployed globally (12-18 months).

SUMMARY

An example system comprising at least one light source configured togenerate a light of at least one wavelength and project the light overan optical path, a sample device, the device containing a sampleobtained from exhalation of a person, the sample device beingtransparent and being at least partially within the optical path, avortex mask being within the optical path and configured to receive thelight after the light passes through at least a portion of the sampledevice, the vortex mask including a series of concentric circles etchedin a substrate, the vortex mask configured to provide destructiveinterference of coherent light received from the at least one lightsource, a detector configured to detect and measure wavelengthintensities from the light in the optical path, the wavelengthintensities being impacted by the light passing through the sample, thedetector receiving the light that remained after passing through thevortex mask, and a processor configured to provide measurement resultsbased on the wavelength intensities.

In some embodiments, the system further comprises a discriminatorconfigured to analyze the measurement results and identify a categoryassociated with the measurement results. The discriminator may utilizelogistic regression to categorize the measurement results.

The sample may be obtained from a breathalyzer provided to a person. Inone example, the breathalyzer cools a cuvette which condenses the sampleof an exhalation of the user within the sample device, the sample devicebeing removable from the breathalyzer.

The system may further comprise a lyot mask (e.g., lyot stop) positionedin the optical path and configured to receive light from the vortex maskand provide the light towards the detector, the lyot mask configured torelocate residual light away from a region of the image plane, therebyreducing light noise from the at least one or more light sources andimproving sensitivity to off-axis scattered light. The lyot mask may be,for example, a lyot-plane phase mask.

The vortex mask may be an optical vortex coronagraph that uses aphase-mask in which the phase-shift varies azimuthally around a centerto mask out light along the center axis of the optical path of thespectrometer but allows light from off axis.

In various embodiments, the system comprises two light sources, eachconfigured to provide a different wavelength. Alternately, the systemmay include a single light source that generates several wavelengths,the system further comprising a diffraction grating to separate outdifferent wavelengths for propagating down the optical path.

In some embodiments, the at least one light source generates wavelengthsat 735 nm, 780 nm, 810 nm, and 860 nm. The discriminator may assessfeatures based on intensities of those wavelengths to make categories.In some embodiments, the sample may indicate infection by COVID-19.

An example method may comprise generating, by at least one light source,a light of at least one wavelength and project the light over an opticalpath, receiving, by a sample device, the light from the at least oneoptical source, the device containing a sample obtained from exhalationof a person, the sample device being transparent and being at leastpartially within the optical path, providing destructive interference ofcoherent light passed through the sample device using a vortex mask, thevortex mask including a series of concentric circles etched in asubstrate, measuring, by a detector, wavelength intensities of the lightafter having passed through the vortex mask, and providing measurementresults based on wavelength intensities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an environment for screening any number of patrons forinfection in some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a generalized approach in some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is another example approach in some embodiments.

FIG. 4a depicts an example breathalyzer in some embodiments.

FIG. 4b is another view of the breathalyzer in some embodiments.

FIG. 5 depicts transparent substrates for collecting a sample a patron.

FIG. 6 depicts an absorption and scattering diagram in some embodiments.

FIG. 7 depicts a window validation accuracy graph in some embodiments.

FIG. 8 depicts an example vortex spectrometer in some embodiments.

FIG. 9a depicts an example coronagraph scheme including a concentriccircular surface relief grating with rectangular grooves with depth hand a periodicity of A.

FIG. 9b includes images of amplitude and phase caused by the vortex maskin some embodiments.

FIG. 9c depicts an example of a vortex mask which can be seen as apolarization FQ-PM.

FIG. 10a depicts an example simplified spectrometer optical path in someembodiments.

FIG. 10b depicts another example simplified spectrometer optical path insome embodiments.

FIG. 10c is another example of an optical path of a spectrometer in someembodiments.

FIG. 11a depicts a measurement of the aperture of an entrance apertureas being 6 mm in one example.

FIG. 11b depicts a measurement of an optical beam received and reflectedby a deformable mirror in some embodiments.

FIG. 12 depicts the irradiance at the entrance to the vortex mask is 34micrometers in one example.

FIG. 13a depicts a field modulus (amplitude) after the vortex mask insome embodiments.

FIG. 13b depicts a field phase (radians) after the vortex mask in someembodiments.

FIG. 14a depicts an example interior irradiance of the lyot stop in oneexample.

FIG. 14b is a graph indicating a 10⁻³ contrast for a lyot stop radius of1.25 mm in one example.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for identifying infection from spectrometer datain some embodiments.

FIG. 16a depicts a test spectra in one example.

FIG. 16b depicts a reference spectra in one example.

FIG. 16c depicts the mean value of the dark noise in one example.

FIG. 16d depicts a test spectra of dark noise corrected in one example.

FIG. 16e depicts a reference spectra of dark noise corrected in oneexample.

FIG. 17a depicts an example test spectra including spectra normalizationaveraged over instances.

FIG. 17b depicts an example reference spectra including spectranormalization averaged over instances.

FIG. 17c depicts a test spectra with spectra normalization for the firstsample, all instances.

FIG. 17d depicts an example reference spectra including spectranormalization for the first sample, all instances.

FIG. 18a depicts an example test spectra including spectra normalizationaveraged over instances.

FIG. 18b depicts an example reference spectra including spectranormalization averaged over instances.

FIG. 19a depicts an example test spectra of positive (infection) resultswith background suppression.

FIG. 19b depicts an example test spectra of negative (infection) resultswith background suppression.

FIG. 19c depicts an example test spectra of positive (infection) resultswith background suppression.

FIG. 19d depicts an example test spectra of negative (infection) resultswith background suppression.

FIG. 20a depicts a negative result scalogram conversion after waveletcorrelation.

FIG. 20b depicts a positive result scalogram conversion after waveletcorrelation.

FIG. 20c depicts a difference between the positive and negative resultscalogram conversion depicting the difference and indicating thesignature of infection.

FIG. 21 depicts examples of lucky imaging in some embodiments

FIG. 22 depicts a health screening environment in some embodiments.

FIG. 23 depicts an example health screening system in some embodiments.

FIG. 24 depicts a block diagram of an example digital device accordingto some embodiments

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Examples of health screening systems (HS systems) as discussed hereinmay enable early detection of infected people prior to those peoplepresenting symptoms (i.e., prior to an immune system's reaction to theinfection). The health screening system may be non-invasive, may requireno reagents, and may return results quickly (e.g., within minutes orseconds). In different embodiments, the HS systems may test saliva,swabs, or a breath sample of a person.

In one example, the health screening system includes a spectrometer incommunication with a data analysis discriminator (e.g., a statisticalanalytical discriminator and/or an artificial intelligence (AI)discriminator) (cloud-based and/or based on a smart device) thatdetermines infection within minutes or less. In some implementations,the HS system described herein may allow for fast testing of largevolumes of people with near real-time feedback on par with currentairport security measures.

A noninvasive health screening device may include, for example, abreathalyzer or be coupled to a breathalyzer (e.g., a device thatreceives and collects the breath of a patron). Alternately, the healthscreening device may receive a saliva sample or a swab sample of apatron.

A spectrometer of the HS system may generate measurements based onabsorption and/or transmittance of spectral components by particles of asample provided by the patron. The measurements may subsequently beassessed in order to identify viruses, evidence of viruses (e.g.,proteins), or other illnesses. Spectroscopy has not been applied todetect virus or other particles from the breath of a patron in the pastbecause any information that may be gathered may be too faint (e.g.,signals of interest based on the particles in breath are overwhelmed bythe light of the spectroscopy as well as other aspects of the system).

In various embodiments, an example noninvasive health screening devicemay utilize a vortex filter (e.g., a vortex coronagraph) that mayfunction to cause destructive interference of information in thespectrometer thereby amplifying an otherwise faded signal and enableassessments of the information provided by the spectrometer. Once the(otherwise previously faded) signal information is detected, informationassociated with viruses (e.g., based on spectral components associatedwith particles of interest in the patron's breath) may be assessed todetermine if a patient is infected.

In some examples of COVID 19, a patron may provide a swab sample, asaliva sample, or exhale into a health screening device. Particles ofthe virus and/or proteins associated with the virus may be within thepatron's sample. Proteins or other organic matter may be related to thevirus directly or related to a body's respondence to infection or thephysiological impact of infection. As discussed herein, prior toinnovations described herein, spectral components of the particles ofvirus or proteins may not have been detectable due to their signals(e.g., based on light being shined through the breath sample) being toofaint relative to other spectral components and/or light produced by thespectrometer.

FIG. 1 depicts an environment 100 for screening any number of patronsfor infection in some embodiments. By utilizing a sample from the patronusing systems and methods described herein, patrons may be screened forinfection. Those without infection may, for example, be enabled to go towork, travel, engage in social functions, and/or attend events. Thosewith infections may be further assessed, treated, and/or placethemselves in quarantine to prevent infection to others. Those withinfection may also be provided with guidance to isolate themselves tothe extent practical until the infection is overcome. It will beappreciated that utilizing the breathalyzer device as discussed hereinin combination with the spectrometer with a vortex mask may enabledetection of a virus and/or infection even if the patron isasymptomatic.

In the environment 100, there may be any number of patrons 102. A patronis any person of any age. Any group and/or any number of patrons may betested for infection. Each patron may be tested with a health screeningdevice 104.

The health screening device 104 may be non-invasive and requires noreagents. In various embodiments, the health screening device 104 or asystem that assesses results from the health screening device 104, mayreturn results within minutes or seconds. In one example, the healthscreening device 104 includes a deployable breathalyzer and spectrometerin communication with a discriminator (e.g., a cloud-based or localdevice) that determines the presence of infection. In other examples,the health screening device 104 includes a cuvette to collect a salivasample or a device (e.g., fogging glass discussed herein) to receive aswab sample or saliva sample. The samples may be measured using aspectrometer as discussed herein and the results analyzed as alsodiscussed herein. This system may allow for fast testing of largevolumes of people with near real-time feedback on par with currentairport security measures. The discriminator may be or include anartificial intelligence system (e.g., a convolutional neural network) orstatistical classifier (e.g., a performing logistic regression).

In the example of environment 100, any number of patrons may be assessedat any number of locations. For example, patrons 102 may be screenedprior to being allowed to enter to an office, place of employment, orvenue 108. In another example, patrons 102 may be screened prior tobeing allowed to enter into any venue 108 such as an airport, plane,bus, bus terminal, train, train station, subway, subway station, retailstore, restaurant, sports venue, concert venue, or the like. Because thehealth screening device 104 is noninvasive and may work quickly todetect infection, many geographically remote patrons may be effectivelyscreened to enable them to engage in activities that may otherwise beunwise.

The results of the health screening device 104 may be assessed todetermine if a patron is infected or not infected. Patrons that aredetermined not to be infected 106 may engage in activities that bringthemselves into proximity with others (e.g., work, travel,entertainment, and the like). Patrons that are determined to be infectedpatrons 110, may be advised to maintain social distancing, receivetreatment, and/or isolate themselves until they are no longer infected.Infected patrons 110 may be further tested by diagnostic labs 112 and/orbe the subject of contact tracing 114 to identify other individuals thatmay be infected and may transmit the infection to others.

Due to the noninvasive nature and the speed of testing by the healthscreening device 104, infected patrons 110 may be repeatedly tested(e.g., every day), until it is determined that they have overcome theinfection.

It will be appreciated with the increasing difficulty of obtainingtraditional test kits (e.g., due to a limitation of the availability ofcertain reagents), health professionals may utilize the systems andmethods described herein to determine infection and only use moretraditional test kits on those with strong symptoms and/or those thatare identified as being infected by the systems and methods describedherein. Alternately, the systems and methods described herein mayreplace traditional testing.

FIG. 2 is a generalized approach 200 in some embodiments. Severalexamples includes receiving a breath sample using a breath condenserdevice. While these examples and some figures depict collecting a breathsample, it will be appreciated that a patron's saliva or swab sample maybe collected instead of a breath sample. Samples (e.g., breath, saliva,or swab) may be utilized with one or more of the systems and methodsdescribed herein.

In step 210, a sample collection device (e.g., health screening device104) receives breath (e.g., an exhalation) from a patron. As discussedherein, a patron is a person. The patron may or may not be sick with aviral infection. The patron may or may not show symptoms of infection.The sample collection device may be any collection device configured toreceive an exhalation (e.g., breath) of a patron. The sample collectiondevice may include or be coupled to a spectrometer. The spectrometer maybe configured to project different wavelengths through particles of thebreath of the patron in order to generate spectral components that maybe measured.

In some examples, the sample collection device may include a breathcollection chamber and/or a substrate. The breath collection chamberand/or substrate may be transparent or semi-transparent memberconfigured to collect particles from the breath of the patron. Aspectrometer may project any number of wavelengths through the breathcollection chamber and/or the substrate. The spectrometer may include orbe coupled to a vortex mask in order to reduce or eliminate undesiredwavelengths and/or wavelength intensities of the light that passedthrough the collection chamber and/or the substrate. The vortex mask mayinclude or be an optical vortex coronagraph that uses a phase-mask inwhich the phase-shift varies azimuthally around the center. The vortexmask may use interference to mask out light along the center axis of theoptical path of the spectrometer but allows light from off axis through.This enables scattered, incoherent light that interacted with componentsin the exhalation of the patron to pass through.

The signal measurement device 220 may be or include the spectrometerconfigured to receive the assess wavelength energy absorbed andtransmitted through the breath sample. In one example, a spectrometermay receive and project light into a chamber through an entranceaperture. The entrance aperture may be a lit which may vignette thelight. In various embodiments, the spectrometer may include a filter tolimit bandwidth of light entering the chamber. The light may reflectfrom a collimating mirror as a collimated beam towards a diffractiongrating which may split photons by wavelength through an optical path.The diffraction grating may project the separated light through an exitslit or filter to control which wavelength is projected through thesample. In another example, the diffraction grating may spread the lightacross a focusing mirror which directs light at each wavelength throughthe breath collection chamber or the substrate to the detector. Lightstrikes the individual pixels of the detector. The detector may detectthe transmittance and/or absorbance of the breath sample (i.e., theintensity of light along any number of wavelengths absorbed ortransmitted).

The signal analyzer 230 may receive measurements from the detector ofthe signal measurement device 220 and provide an analysis of themeasurements. The signal analyzer 230 may assess the measurements toidentify information of interest (e.g., intensity of light absorbedand/or transmitted at specific wavelengths) while ignoring or assessinginformation from other wavelengths. The presence of certain wavelengthsof a certain intensity in addition to or without other wavelengths mayindicate the presence of proteins associated with one or more viruses.

The signal discriminator 240 may receive the analysis of the signalanalyzer 230 to provide a category or indication of the presence ofinfection. In one example, the signal discriminator 240 may indicatewhether a patron is infected or not infected. In another example, thesignal discriminator 240 may indicate whether a patron is likelyinfected or not likely infected. In some embodiments, the signaldiscriminator 240 may indicate whether the infection status of thepatron is unknown (e.g., if the analysis and/or discrimination isuncertain).

The signal discriminator 240 may be or utilize a logistic regressionanalysis model, model fitting, thresholding, an AI model (e.g., a neuralnetwork), and/or the like. In some embodiments, the signal discriminatormaybe or utilize statistical and/or mathematical models to providecategories.

FIG. 3 is another example approach 300 in some embodiments. A breathcondenser device 310 (e.g., breathalyzer 400 discussed herein) receivesbreath from a patron. A breath condenser device 310 may be configured toreceive a person's breath from over a spigot, straw, or some otherorifice. The breath from the patron may be collected on a transparent orsemitransparent substrate (e.g., the breath may condense on thesubstrate). The breath condenser device 310 may have a heat sink, fan,coolant, and/or other elements to assist in the condensation of theuser's breath.

The breath condenser device 310 may be any collection device configuredto receive the breath of a patron and perform analysis on componentsand/or particles contained in the breath of the patron. The breathcondenser device may include or be coupled to a spectrometer. Thespectrometer may be configured to project different wavelengths throughparticles of the breath of the patron in order to generate spectralcomponents that may be measured.

In various embodiments, the breath condenser device 310 is replaced witha fogging window for the patron to breath on (e.g., exhale), a cuvetteto receive the patron's saliva, or the like.

Measurements on the condensed substrate may be taken using a vortexspectrometer 320. A vortex spectrometer 320 is a spectrometer with avortex mask. The spectrometer 320 may be any spectrometer configured toproject light at one or more wavelengths through the breath sample to adetector to make measurements based on absorption and/or transmittance.

The vortex mask, further discussed herein, may be a grating ofconcentric circles configured to create destructive interference andeliminate undesired light. This effect amplifies the desired signal fromthe proteins and/or viruses contained within the breath sample. As aresult, a signal that is typically too faint to detect and is otherwiseblocked out by other signals (i.e., noise) becomes detectable.

The low-light signal analyzer 330 may be a signal measurement deviceand/or a signal analyzer configured to work in conjunction with thevortex mask to identify faint signals that are created or influenced bythe presence of proteins and/or viruses in the breath samples. Thelow-light signal analyzer 330 may be or include the spectrometerconfigured to receive the assess wavelength energy absorbed andtransmitted through the breath sample.

The low-light signal analyzer 330 assess the measurements to identifyinformation of interest (e.g., intensity of light absorbed and/ortransmitted at specific wavelengths) while ignoring or assessinginformation from other wavelengths. The presence of certain wavelengthsof a certain intensity in addition to or without other wavelengths mayindicate the presence of proteins associated with one or more viruses.

The convolutional neural network discriminator 340 may receive theanalysis from the low-light signal analyzer 330 to provide a category orindication of the presence of infection. As discussed regarding FIG. 2,a signal discriminator may be any device or include any approach forassisting in categorizing infection. In this example, the signaldiscriminator is a convolutional neural network discriminator 340.

The convolutional neural network discriminator 340 may be trained basedon at least a subset of measurements and analysis generated from anynumber of peoples' condensed breath and the known results (e.g.,infection confirmed and/or lack of infection confirmed through labtesting or other means). Once trained, the convolutional neural networkdiscriminator 340 may be tested against a subset of analysis andmeasurements of people to compare the prediction to known truth. Theconvolutional neural network discriminator 340 is further describedherein.

In one example, the signal discriminator 240 may indicate whether apatron is infected or not infected. In another example, the signaldiscriminator 240 may indicate whether a patron is likely infected ornot likely infected. In some embodiments, the signal discriminator 240may indicate whether the infection status of the patron is unknown(e.g., if the analysis and/or discrimination is uncertain).

The signal discriminator 240 may be or utilize an AI model (e.g., aneural network) that is trained and curated. In some embodiments, thesignal discriminator maybe or utilize statistical and/or mathematicalmodels to provide categories.

FIG. 4a depicts an example breathalyzer 400 in some embodiments. Thebreathalyzer 400 may enable a patron to breath through a mouthpiece 402.The breathalyzer 400 may receive a sample of the patron's breath. Aspectrometer may receive the sample for analysis. The sample may berejected from the breathalyzer 400 or may the breathalyzer 400 may becoupled to or within the spectrometer.

In the example breathalyzer 400 of FIG. 4a , the breathalyzer 400 ishand-sized. The breathalyzer 400 may include a mouthpiece 402, a cooler404, and a reservoir 406. The example breathalyzer 400 is configured toreceive the breath of the patron through the mouthpiece 402 and preservesamples from the breath of the patron in the reservoir 406. It will beappreciated that there may be many ways in which to collect and hold thebreath sample. In this example, the cooler 404 assists to collectparticles of interest of the breath of the patron by cooling the cuvetteand allowing the particles (e.g., within or bound to moisture in thebreath sample) to collect on a surface inside the cuvette.

In the example of the breathalyzer 400, the cooler 404 includes a fan408, a heat sink 410, a thermoelectric cooler (TEC) 412, and a cuvetteholder 414. The reservoir 406 includes the cuvette 416. The breathalyzer400 may be hand-sized or be able to be manipulated and/or controlledwith one or two hands. The breathalyzer 400 may include an outer housingthat houses the cooler 404 and/or the reservoir 406. The mouthpiece 402may be coupled to the housing. The housing may be made of plastic orother material. The outer housing may hold the components of the cooler404 and the reservoir 406. The outer housing may also include a portalor lid which can be opened and the cuvette 416 removed from thebreathalyzer 400. A new cuvette 416 may also be inserted into thebreathalyzer 400 through the portal or lid.

In various embodiments, the mouthpiece 402 may include a conduit that issealed directly to the cuvette 416 opening or through a conduit or othercomponent that allows for a direct air path from the mouthpiece 402 tothe cuvette 416. In various embodiments, the mouthpiece 402 is removablefrom the housing of the breathalyzer 400 and may be replaced or cleanedafter being used by one or more patrons. In one example, a patron mayblow through a hole in the mouthpiece to direct air into the cuvette416. A sample of the patron's breath may be held in the cuvette 416. Thecuvette 416 may be ejected and/or the mouthpiece replaced with a newmouthpiece prior to the next patron breathing into the breathalyzer 400.

In various embodiments, the conduit and/or the mouthpiece 402 mayinclude pressure release air passages to allow air to escape as thepatron blows through the mouthpiece 402. In various embodiments, thecuvette 416 may include an air escape conduit to allow air to passthrough the cuvette 416 and collect the sample. The air escape conduitmay include a filter to prevent virus particles or the like fromescaping the breathalyzer 400. In some embodiments, the air escaeconduit may include a flap or other technique to prevent air fromflowing from the outside the breathalyzer 400 back into the cuvette 416.

The cuvette 416 may be an optically clear container for holding samples(e.g., samples of the patron's breath). The cuvette 416 may betransparent or hold a removable sample substrate that is transparent. Invarious embodiments, the cuvette 416 is removable from the breathalyzer400. In various embodiments, the cuvette 416 may be placed within aspectrometer or within the light beams of a spectrometer in order for adetector and analyzer to analyze absorption and/or transmittance.

In various embodiments, a spectrometer (e.g., a vortex spectrometer) mayinclude a lid or portal to allow the cuvette 416 to be inserted and/orremoved from the optical path of the spectrometer. The cuvette may bereplaced with another cuvette containing a different breath sample froma different patron after each analysis. In some embodiments, multipletests are run on the same cuvette to enable multiple measurements (e.g.,“data snapshots”). This process may be used in conjunction with “luckyimaging” discussed herein to improve accuracy.

The cooler 404 may contain a fan 408 that directs air into or air out ofthe breathalyzer 400. The fan may be powered by a battery that is nowshown in FIG. 4A or 4B. The battery may also power the TEC 412. Thebattery may run on any batteries such as commercial batteries, retailbatteries, lithium ion, polymer, and/or the like.

A heat sink 410 may include a block of thermo-conductive material withor without fins to pull heat from the TEC 412. The fan 408 may removeheat form the heat sink 410 to assist in cooling. In variousembodiments, the outer housing of the breathalyzer 400 may include slitsor other air passages to allow hot air to pass out of the breathalyzer400.

The TEC 412 may be any thermoelectric cooler that operates by thePeltier effect by creating a temperature difference between twoelectrical junctions. As voltage is applied across joined conductors, acurrent is induced that flows through the junctions of two conductors.Heat is removed at one junction (thereby creating cooling in thatjunction) and collects in the other. Heat is then transferred from theheated junction to the heat sink 410 which is subsequently cooled by thefan 408. It will be appreciated that the TEC 412 is optional (e.g., thecuvette 416 and/or the cuvette holder 414 may be in contact with theheat sink 410).

The cuvette holder 414 may be coupled between the cuvette 416 and theTEC 412. The cuvette holder 414 may be in contact with the TEC 412 topull heat away from the cuvette 416. The TEC 412 may removably hold thecuvette 416 into position and enable the cuvette 416 to be removed andreplaced (e.g., through the outer housing). The cuvette holder 414 mayinclude a conductive surface to pull heat away from the cuvette 416.

In various embodiments, the cuvette 416 is cooled which will cause thebreath sample of the patron to condense along the inside walls orsubstrate of the cuvette 416.

While the breathalyzer 400 is depicted as hand-sized, it will beappreciated that samples of the breath of a patron may be taken in anynumber of ways. For example, the patron may breath into a mouthpiecewhich directs the patron's breath to pane of transparent plastic (e.g.,within or outside of a cuvee). The pane of transparent plastic maysubsequently be used within a spectrometer (e.g., the mouthpiece may becoupled by a conduit to the pane of transparent plastic which may bewithin or coupled to a spectrometer). After the sample is analyzed bythe spectrometer or digital device in communication with thespectrometer, then the pane of transparent plastic may be replaced orwashed (e.g., with an alcohol solution or the like) to prepare for thenext patron.

As discussed herein, the systems and methods described herein are notlimited to utilizing breath samples of a breathalyzer.

FIG. 4b is another view of the breathalyzer 400 in some embodiments.FIG. 4b depicts the breathalyzer 400 coupled. The cuvette 416 and/or themouthpiece 402 may include an exhaust port 418 to assist with air escapeand allow the sample to be collected. The exhaust port 418 may include afilter to prevent virus particles or the like from escaping thebreathalyzer 400. In some embodiments, the exhaust port 418 may includea flap or other technique to prevent air from flowing from the outsidethe breathalyzer 400 back into the cuvette 416. The exhaust port 418 mayallow for air from the breath of the patron to escape and be pushed outof the breathalyzer 400 by the fan 408 (e.g., through slits or openingsof the outer housing which may or may not be filtered).

While a breathalyzer 400 is depicted in FIG. 4, it will be appreciatedthat a sample of a patron may be taken in many different ways and usedwith systems described herein. For example, a patron may breath into thebreathalyzer 400, provide a swab and the swab used to apply the patientsfluids to a transparent substrate, or provide saliva which is applied tothe transparent substrate. Any or all of these approaches may be usedwith the spectrometer with a vortex mask as described herein.

FIG. 5 depicts transparent substrates 500 for collecting a sample apatron. The transparent substrates 500 may be utilized to collect abreath sample (e.g., the patron exhaling on at least one of thetransparent substrates 500), a saliva sample (e.g., applying thepatron's saliva to at least one of the transparent substrates 500), or aswab sample (e.g., applying the residue from a swab sample on at leastone of the transparent substrates 500).

The transparent substrates 500 may include a fogging window 510 andtransparent members 520. In one example, the patron may breath or exhaleon the fogging window 510. The transparent members 520 and/or thefogging window 510 may be cooled to collect moisture and particles fromthe user's sample.

The fogging window 510 may be coupled (e.g., rotationally coupled to apin at or near a common edge) to the transparent members 520. In someembodiments, the fogging window 510 may be rotationally coupled to thetransparent members 520. In one example, the fogging window 510 may berotationally coupled by a peg or a point connected to both thetransparent members 520 (e.g., along an edge) to allow the foggingwindow 510 to rotate out of being between the transparent members 520.In one example, the fogging window 510 may be rotated away from thetransparent members 520 to allow a patron to exhale on the foggingwindow 510 without exhaling on the transparent members 520. After thefogging window 510 has collected a sample of the patron's breath, thefogging window 510 may rotate along the coupling point between thetransparent members 520.

The transparent substrates 500 may then be inserted or coupled to aspectrometer. The spectrometer optical path 530 is a path for lightprojected by the spectrometer to a detector. In some embodiments, thespectrometer may have a portal or lid that allows the transparentsubstrates 500 to be inserted for analysis (e.g., as the sample cell)and then removed to make room for another set of transparent substrates500 containing another breath sample from another patron.

The transparent members 520 may be made of any transparent materialincluding, for example, glass or plastic. There may be any numbertransparent members 520 (e.g., one or more)

In some embodiments, the transparent substrates 500 and/or the foggingwindow 510 may be contained in the breathalyzer 400 and/or the cuvette416. In other embodiments, the transparent substrates 500 may beunrelated to the breathalyzer 400. In this example, the transparentsubstrates 500 may be handled by a health professional wearing glovesand allow the patron to exhale on the fogging window 510.

There may be any number of fogging windows 510. For example, thetransparent substrates 500 may include pairs of transparent members 520with a fogging window 510 between each pair (e.g., four fogging windows510 fogging window 510 between a pair of transparent members 520). Eachfogging window 510 may be rotationally coupled to the transparentmembers 522 enable each fogging window 510 to rotate out from betweenthe transparent members 520 independent of other plane windows 510.

In another example, there may be any number of fogging windows connectedby the common pin. While one of the fogging windows 510 may be betweenthe two transparent members 520, the other two fogging windows 510 maybe outside the two transparent members 520. A first fogging window 510between the two transparent members 520 may be placed within an opticalpath of a spectrometer. After measurements are taken, the transparentsubstrates 500 may be removed and the fogging window 510 rotated suchthat a second fogging windows 510 may be placed between the twotransparent members 520 and placed within the spectrometer. Aftermeasurements of the second sample of the second fogging window 510 istaken, the transparent substrates 500 may be removed and the secondfogging window 510 rotated such that a third fogging window 510 may beplaced between the two transparent members 520 and placed within thespectrometer for additional measurements. Each fogging window 510 maycontain a sample from a different patron or, in some embodiments, eachfogging window 510 may contain a different breath sample from adifferent patron.

After analysis, the fogging window 510 and or the transparent members520 may be cleaned or washed (e.g., using an alcohol-based solution,soap, and/or the like).

FIG. 6 depicts an absorption and scattering diagram 600 in someembodiments. The absorption scattering diagram 600 may depict a processthat occurs within the spectrometer. In this example, a laser 610 mayproject light along an optical path through the scattering cell 620.Scattering cell 620 may contain, for example, the cuvette 416, thetransparent substrates 500, or the like. Light from the laser 610 may beabsorbed and scattered as depicted in view 640. A detector 630 may bepositioned such that the detector receives scattering of light at thedesired wavelength.

FIG. 7 depicts a window validation accuracy graph in some embodiments.In some embodiments, the output of the spectrometer may be or appearsimilar to the graph 700. In some embodiments, peaks of wavelengthintensities at 735 nm, 780 nm, 810 nm, and 860 nm may suggest orindicate infection.

FIG. 8 depicts an example vortex spectrometer 800 in some embodiments.The spectrometer depicted in FIG. 8 is simplified. It may be appreciatedthat the spectrometer may include an aperture for controllingwavelengths, filters, beam splitters, diffraction grating, and the likeas discussed herein.

The vortex spectrometer 840 of FIG. 8 includes a light source 810 (e.g.,laser), first lens 820, sample cell 830, vortex mask 840, a second lens850, and a detector 860. Light from a broadband light source 810 may becollimated by lens 820. The collimated light passes through a samplecell (e.g., containing the condensed breath of a patron), a vortex mask840, and the second lens 850 before passing to the detector 860.

When the light passes through a scattering medium containing particleslarger than the wavelength, light is scattered. The most intensescattering usually occurs in the forward direction. Light scatteredalong the optical axis is often difficult to distinguish from thesuperimposed unscattered laser beam, especially when there is a diluteconcentration of weak scatterers. This scattered light may interferewith the light of the principle beam and, as a result, speckle (i.e.,noise) may be formed.

In some cases, particular wavelengths may be absorbed by the scatteringmedia. This occurs because the light at those particular wavelengthsexcite the rotational or vibrational state of the molecules in themedia. Therefore, the chemical makeup of an absorbing media may be basedon the spectral absorption signature that is present. If the medium isweakly scattering (i.e., there are few scatterers), the absorptionsignature may be overwhelmed by the strong on-axis unscattered lightsource. Therefore, in order to optimize the characterization of thescattering molecules, a light suppression technique may be utilized toattenuate the strong on-axis source while leaving the weaker scatteredsignal intact.

An optical vortex 840 is a dark null of destructive interference thatoccurs at a spiral phase dislocation in a beam of spatially coherentlight. The phase of a transmitted light beam may be twisted and lightfrom opposite sides of the mask may coherently destructively interfereto form a dark null in the transmitted intensity pattern, much like theeye of a hurricane.

The vortex mask 840 may assist to create destructive interference of thelight source, thereby enabling improved sensitivity of fainter signals.In one example of the optical path shown in FIG. 8, light is projectedfrom the light source 810 through the breath collection chamber and/ortransparent member. The light then passes through the vortex mask 840 tobe detected by the detector 860 which may digitizes the signal as afunction of wavelength and provides the signal for further analysisand/or display.

In some embodiments, divergent light may be collimated by a concavemirror and directed into a grating to disperse the spectral componentsof the light at slightly varying angles which may be focused by a secondconcave mirror and imaged onto a detector.

The vortex mask 840 may be a vortex coronagraph configured to reduceunwanted glare from a spectrometer light source. As discussed herein,the spectrometer may include or be coupled to a vortex mask in order toreduce or eliminate undesired wavelengths and/or light intensities ofthe light that passed through the sample cell 830. The vortex mask 840may include or be an optical vortex coronagraph that uses a phase-maskin which the phase-shift varies azimuthally around the center. Thevortex mask 840 may use interference to mask out light along the centeraxis of the optical path of the spectrometer but allows light from offaxis.

A vortex mask 840 may be used to create an optical vortex to reduce oreliminate unwanted light from the spectrometer light sources. Withoutreducing undesirable light from the spectrometer light sources, manysignals may otherwise be too faint to be detected (e.g., faint signalsfrom desired absorption or transmittance is overwhelmed by the othersignals caused by the light sources).

In some embodiments, the vortex mask 840 may be or utilize an opticalvortex coronagraph. An example optical vortex coronagraph uses a helicalphase of the form e_(iϕ), with ϕ=lθ, where l is the topological chargeand θ is the focal plane azimuthal coordinate. In optical systems,vortices manifest themselves as dark donut of destructive interferencethat occur at phase singularities. For example, E(ρ, ϕ, z, t) A(ρ, z)exp(ilθ) exp(iωt−ikz) where (ρ, ϕ, z) are cylindrical coordinates, A(ρ,z) is a circularly symmetric amplitude function and k=2π/2, is thewavenumber of a monochromatic field of wavelength λ.

In some embodiments, the optical vortex coronagraph may utilize arotationally symmetric half wave plate which can generate an azimuthalphase spiral reaching an even multiple of 2pi radian.

The vortex mask 840 may include an optical vortex induced by anachromatic subwavelength grating. In some embodiments, the vortex mask840 maybe an annular groove phase mask coronagraph. As discussed herein,without the vortex mask 840, detection of faint sources aroundsignificant noise may be difficult due to the large ratio between them.

In various embodiments, the vortex mask 840 is not a pure amplitudemask, a pure phase mask, a single pupil achromatic nullinginterferometer, or a monochromatic pupil plane mask. In one example, thevortex mask 840 may be an annular groove phase mask coronagraph. Thevortex mask 840 may include a focal plane that is divided into fourequal areas centered on an optical axis. Unlike a mask where two of thefocal planes are on a diagonal providing a π phase shift to causedestructive interference inside a geometric pupil area, the vortex mask840 utilizes subwavelength gratings while suppressing “dead zones”(e.g., where potential circumstellar signal or companion is attenuatedby up to 4 magnitudes). The vortex mask 840 may include concentriccircular subwavelength gratings.

The vortex mask 840 may include a focal plane micro-component includinga concentric circular surface-relief grating with rectangular grooves ofdepth h and equally separated by a period A. FIG. 9a depicts an examplecoronagraph scheme including a concentric circular surface reliefgrating with rectangular grooves with depth h and a periodicity of A. insome embodiments, the vortex mask 840 may be a vectorial phase mask(i.e., the vortex mask 840 induces a differential phase shift betweenthe local polarization states of the incident natural (or polarized)light).

When the period A of the grating is smaller than the wavelength of theincident light, the vortex mask 840 does not diffract as a classicalspectroscopic grating. Incident energy is enforced to propagate only inthe zeroth order, leaving incident wavefronts free from any furtheraberrations. In various embodiments, the subwavelength gratings of thevortex mask 840 may be Zeroth Order Gratings.

By controlling the geometry of the grating structure, the vortex mask840 may be tuned (e.g., to make the form birefringence proportional tothe wavelength in order to achromatize the subsequent differential πphase shift between two polarization states). This may create an opticalvortex where phases possess a screw dislocation inducing a phasesingularity. The central singularity forces the intensity to vanish by atotal destructive interference, creating a dark core. This dark corepropagates and is conserved along the optical axis. In variousembodiments, the vortex mask 840 creates an optical vortex in the focalplane, filtering in the relayed pupil plane and making the detection ina final image plane. FIG. 9b includes images of amplitude and phasecaused by the vortex mask 840 in some embodiments.

In various embodiments, the vortex mask 840 may be fabricated byimprinting the concentric annular mask in a resin coated on a chosensubstrate material. For example, fabrication may be performed, in party,by laser direct writing or e-beam lithography. This process may definethe lateral dimensions of the Zeroth Order Gratings (ZOG). This patternmay then be uniformly transferred in the substrate by an appropriatereactive plasma ion beam etching down to the desired depth.

In some embodiments, a space-variant half-wave plate may be used togenerate the optical vortex. In one example,

A beam of light containing an optical vortex is described by an electricfield distribution that may be expressed E(x,y,z)=A(x,y,z)exp(iΦ(x,y,z))exp (imθ) where A and Φ are arbitrary amplitude and phasefunctions respectively, θ is an angle about the vortex core located at(x_(v), y_(v)): x−x_(v)=cos θ and y−y_(v)=sin θ, and m is an integercalled the vortex charge (or vortex topological charge). There arevarious techniques to produce convert a given input beam into an outputcontained an arbitrary distribution of optical vortices. In thisexample, this method makes use of a space variant half-wave retarder anda circularly polarized input beam. For convenience, the input beam isright circularly polarized.

A conventional half-wave plate converts a right circularly polarizedbeam into a left circularly polarized beam, without introducing aspatially varying phase on the output beam. This may be accomplishedwith a birefringent material such as a nematic liquid crystal wherebythe refractive index depends on the linear polarization components ofthe beam. The horizontal and vertical polarization components of theright circularly polarized input beam may be represented by variableE_(x,in)=1 and E_(y,in)=−i, where i=√{square root over (−1)}. In generalthe output beam has horizontal and vertical components that are a linearcombination of the input components. For a half-wave retarder with thefast crystal axis making an angle θ′ with respect to the x-axis, theoutput field may be expressed

$\begin{bmatrix}E_{x,{out}} \\E_{y,{out}}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta^{\prime}} & {{- \sin}\mspace{11mu}\theta^{\prime}} \\{\sin\mspace{11mu}\theta^{\prime}} & {\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta}\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}{\exp\;\left( {i\;\pi\text{/}2} \right)} & 0 \\0 & {\exp\;\left( {{- i}\;\pi\text{/}2} \right)}\end{bmatrix}}{\quad{\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta^{\prime}} & {\sin\mspace{11mu}\theta^{\prime}} \\{{- \sin}\mspace{11mu}\theta^{\prime}} & {\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}E_{x,{in}} \\E_{y,{in}}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}}}$

When

${\theta^{\prime} = \frac{\pi}{4}},$

E_(x,out)=1 and E_(y,out)=i which describes left circular polarization.The principle of a space-variant half-wave retarder can be understood byre-writing the above equation in the reduced form, making use of thetrigonometric identity tan (2u)=2 tan u/(1−tan² u):

$\begin{bmatrix}E_{x,{out}} \\E_{y,{out}}\end{bmatrix} = {ie}^{{- i}\;{\phi{\lbrack\begin{matrix}1 \\i\end{matrix}\rbrack}}}$

Where tan ϕ=tan 2θ′, or equivalently, ϕ=2θ′. That is, the spatial phasedistribution of the output left circularly polarized beam may becontrolled by spatially varying the angle of the crystal fast axis. Forexample, if we want a vortex of charge m=−2 having a spatial phasedistribution exp (−i2θ)

then we need to spatially orient the fast axis of the crystal by theexact angular coordinate θ′=θ, where θ corresponds to the (x,y) locationof the material: x=cos θ, y=sin θ Likewise, if we want to generate avortex beam of charge m=−4 then we need to rotate the fast axis by anamount θ′=2θ.

The half-wave phase factors in the equation above exp (±iπ/2 may beachieved when the following birefringent material condition issatisfied: π(n_(e)−n_(o))L/λ=π/2 where n_(o) and n_(e) are the ordinaryand extraordinary refractive indexes, respectively, L is the thicknessof the material, and λ is the wavelength of light. This “half-wave”condition can only be satisfied at a single wavelength. In this case theconversion efficiency (of the right circularly polarized input beam tothe left circularly polarized output beam having a vortex phase)decreases as a function of wavelength. To rectify this shortcoming andmake the material highly efficient across a band of wavelength, aachromatic half-wave retarder may be used.

Broadband wave retarders may be constructed by stacking multiple layersof the same birefringent material at different orientations. Achromaticand superachromatic wave plates may be constructed from three morelayers. A three-layer achromatic half-wave plate is described below. Theelectric field vector may be described with Jones matrix formalism:

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{bmatrix}E_{x,{out}} \\E_{y,{out}}\end{bmatrix} = {{{{\begin{bmatrix}C_{1,1} & C_{1,2} \\C_{2,1} & C_{2,2}\end{bmatrix}\begin{bmatrix}B_{1,1} & B_{1,2} \\B_{2,1} & B_{2,2}\end{bmatrix}}\begin{bmatrix}A_{1,1} & A_{1,2} \\A_{2,l} & A_{2,2}\end{bmatrix}}\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}E_{x,{in}} \\E_{y,{in}}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack} = {\quad{{\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}M_{1,1} & M_{1,2} \\M_{2,1} & M_{2,2}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}E_{x,{in}} \\E_{y,{in}}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}\mspace{20mu}{where}}}}} & (1) \\{\begin{bmatrix}A_{1,1} & A_{1,2} \\A_{2,l} & A_{2,2}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos\;\theta_{a}} & {{- {s{in}}}\;\theta_{a}} \\{\sin\;\theta_{a}} & {\cos\;\theta_{a}}\end{bmatrix}\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\exp\;\left( {i\gamma_{a}} \right)} & 0 \\0 & {\exp\;\left( {{- i}\gamma_{a}} \right)}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}{\quad\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\cos\;\theta_{a}} & {\sin\;\theta_{a}} \\{{- \sin}\;\theta_{a}} & {\cos\;\theta_{a}}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}}} & (2) \\{\begin{bmatrix}B_{1,1} & B_{1,2} \\B_{2,1} & B_{2.2}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}} & {{- {s{in}}}\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}} \\{\sin\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}} & {\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}}\end{bmatrix}\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\exp\;\left( {i\gamma_{b}} \right)} & 0 \\0 & {\exp\;\left( {{- i}\gamma_{b}} \right)}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}{\quad\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}} & {\sin\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}} \\{{- \sin}\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}} & {\cos\mspace{11mu}\theta_{b}}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}}} & (3) \\{\begin{bmatrix}C_{1,1} & C_{1,2} \\C_{2,1} & C_{2,2}\end{bmatrix} = {{\begin{bmatrix}{\cos\;\theta_{c}} & {{- {s{in}}}\;\theta_{c}} \\{\sin\;\theta_{c}} & {\cos\;\theta_{c}}\end{bmatrix}\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\exp\;\left( {i\gamma_{c}} \right)} & 0 \\0 & {\exp\;\left( {{- i}\gamma_{c}} \right)}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack}{\quad{\left\lbrack \begin{matrix}{\cos\;\theta_{c}} & {\sin\;\theta_{c}} \\{{- {s{in}}}\;\theta_{c}} & {\cos\;\theta_{c}}\end{matrix} \right\rbrack\quad}}}} & (4)\end{matrix}$

Although the ordinary n_(o) and the extraordinary n_(e) refractiveindexes vary with wavelength, for first order design purposes thebirefringence Δn=n_(e)−n_(o) is often assumed to be nearly constant. (Inpractice optimization techniques can be used to correct forwavelength-dependent values of Δn by varying, for example, the layerthicknesses until the output is sufficiently achromatic.) Thewavelength-dependent phase retardance γ or a layer of thickness L may beexpressed: 2γ=ΔΦ(λ)=2π(n_(e)−n_(o))L/λ≈2πLΔn(1−δλ/λ)/λ₀ where λ=λ₀+δλand λ₀ is a central design wavelength for the achromatic retarder.

The waveplate may be achromatized if γ_(a)=γ_(c) and θ_(a)=θ_(c). Ineffect, the first and last materials may be the same and theorientations are parallel. The final conditions are that cos2θ_(b)=−γ_(b,0)/2γ_(a,0) and γ_(b,0)=π/2. Hence cos 2θ_(b)=−π/4γ_(a,0)

For example:

-   -   1. Let λ₀=800 nm, δλ/λ₀=0.10, and Δn=0.15    -   2. The condition θ_(b,0)=πL_(b)Δn/λ₀=π/2 is satisfied if        L_(b)=λ₀/2Δn=2.67 μm.    -   3. Let the equal retardances of the first and third layers be an        adjustable parameter, or equivalently, L_(a)=L_(c):        γ_(a)=γ_(e)=πΔnL_(a,c)/λ    -   The condition cos 2θ_(b)=−π/4γ_(a,0) requires        θ_(h)=(½)arccos(−λ₀/4ΔnL_(a,c))    -   For example, if L_(a)=L_(b)=L_(c)=2.67 μm, then θ_(h)=π/3    -   5. Finally we must set θ_(a)=θ_(c)

FIG. 9c depicts an example of a vortex mask which can be seen as apolarization FQ-PM. The parallel potentially interfering polarizationstates are out of phase according to the FQ-PM focal plane phase shiftdistribution. ϕTE and ϕTM are the output phases of the polarizationcomponents TE and TM such that ΔΦTE−TM=|ϕTE−ϕTM|=π. While someconstructions and configurations of AGPMs have been used for astronomy,none have been used for spectroscopy for detection of information infaint signals with significant noise.

The vortex mask 840 may be complemented by a diaphragm in the relayedpupil plane (“lyot stop”) to suppress diffracted light.

FIG. 10a depicts an example simplified spectrometer optical path 1000 insome embodiments. One or more light sources may project desiredwavelengths along the optical path 1000 through the sample 1010 and thenthrough a vortex mask 1016 to a detector 1032. The vortex mask 1016 mayassist with improved signal measurement and signal boosting. As such,measurements of the resulting signal enable a discriminator to detectviruses and/or substances related to viruses (e.g., proteins) to detectinfections that were previously too faint to detect.

In various embodiments, the optical path 1000 includes a vortex mask1016 but not a lyot mask 1020. In other embodiments, the optical path1000 includes a vortex mask and a lyot mask.

Light sources 1002 a-n each project light at a different wavelength. Insome embodiments, a single laser projects coherent light through adifferential grating to separate the wavelengths. In other embodiments,different light sources may project different wavelengths (1002 a may bea different wavelength from 1004 b and the like). Each Sn may be adifferent and distinct wavelength as compared to all other sources.

Example wavelengths include, for example, 860 nm, 810 nm, 780 nm, and735 nm. These wavelengths may, for example, be useful in detectingevidence of COVID-19 infection in a breath sample collected from patron.

The light sources 1002 a-n may be or include five co-bore-sighted lasersources that create a light source with an 8 mm collimated beam (orother diameter beam may be produced such as 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm, 6 mm, 7mm, 9 mm, or 10 mm for example). Each light source 1002 a-n may be orinclude an FC fiber connected to an achromatic collimator that sets theoutput beam width. In one example, light sources 1002 a-n are diodelaser sources of various wavelengths. Collimated light from each lightsource 1002 a-n is reflected from the surface of a 55/45 beam splitteror beam comber (BC1-BC4).

Beam combiners 1004 a-1004 n each may allow some wavelengths to passwhile reflecting at least one wavelength (e.g., combining opticalwavelengths). In one example, beam combiner 1004 a may reflect light ata first wavelength from source 1002 a and the beam combiner 1004 a mayallow other wavelengths to pass through (e.g., light from sources 1002b-1002 n). The light from each source may be projected through lens1006. Lens 1006 may be a collimator to collimate the light received fromthe light sources.

Reflective surfaces 1008 and 1012 may reflect all light from thesources. In one example, light from sources 1002 a-1002 n is reflectedby reflective surface 1008 through sample chamber 1010. The samplechamber 1010 may contain a sample (e.g., breath, saliva, or swab sample)from a patron. In various embodiments, the sample chamber 1010 is orcontains the cuvette 416. In another example, the sample chamber 1010 isor contains transparent substrates 500. The light from the sources passthrough the sample chamber 1010 and then is reflective by reflectivesurfaces 1012.

The second section of the optical path 1000 propagates the collimatedbeam through a scattering sample of the sample chamber 1010. In oneexample, a collimated beam from the light source is reflectedperpendicularly from reflective surface M1 1008 through a sample cuvetteholder (i.e., the sample chamber 1010). In this example, the entranceaperture of the sample chamber 1010 has a 9 mm diameter. The samplechamber 1010 may contain a sample in a liquid medium and may have awidth of 10 mm perpendicular to the beam and a length parallel to thebeam of 2 mm.

In one example, the sample chamber 1010 may be filled with approximately1 ml of liquid so the full 8 mm beam passes through the sample. Theresidual collimated beam and the light scattered off the sample may thenreflected perpendicularly off of reflective surface M2 1012 and exits tothe next section of the optical path.

Light then is further focused by lens 1014 on the vortex mask 1016. Thelens 1018 may focus the light on the optional lyot mask 1020 and/or maycollimate the light received from the vortex mask 1016.

Optional LM mask 1020 may be a lyot-mask (e.g., lyot stop) such as alyot-plane phase mask, which enables improved contrast performance. Thelyot-plane phase mask may relocate residual light away from a region ofthe image plane, thereby reducing light noise from the sources of thespectrometer and improves sensitivity to off-axis scattered light.

It may be appreciated that, in some embodiments, the spectrometerincludes a vortex mask 1016, a lyot mask 1020, or both (e.g., thespectrometer may include a lyot mask 1020 but not a vortex mask 1016, alyot mask 1020 and a vortex mask 1016, or vortex mask 1016 but not alyot mask 1020).

The lens L4 1022 may collimate the light and/or focus on the light onthe optional deformable mirror 1024. In some embodiments, the lens L41022 may focus the light on the deformable mirror 1024 (e.g., to adesired diameter).

The deformable mirror 1024 may, in some embodiment, may control the wavefront of the light based on information received from the wave frontsensor 1030. In this example, the light may magnify and/or enhance thelight of the optical path. Control of the deformable mirror 1024 mayallow for control of the wave front of the light to direct a flat wavefront to the detector 1032. It will be appreciated that, in someexamples, the optical path 1000 may not have a deformable mirror 1024.In that case, the optical path 1000 may not have a beam splitter or awave front sensor0 (WFS) 1030.

The detector 1032 detects spectral components (e.g., intensities ofreceived wavelengths). In various embodiments, the detector 1032 is partof a spectrometer, a photodiode, or an LCD camera. The detector maygenerate measurements indicating intensities of wavelengths from theincoherent light of the optical path. The detector may provideabsorption r transmittance measurements related to the particles andcomponents of the breath sample.

In one example, the detector 1032 is in communication with a processorto assess and generate the measurement results. The measurement resultsmay then be used to identify if the patron that produced the breathsample is infected.

The measurement results may be received by a discriminator. Adiscriminator may categorize or determine if the patron is infected byassessing and/or analyzing the measurement results. The discriminatormay assess the measurement results using a logistic regressiontechnique, an AI approach (e.g., convolutional neural network), and/orother statistical methods. In some embodiments, the measurement resultsmay be used to create and/or train the discriminator.

In various embodiments, there is a beam splitter in the optical pathbefore the detector thereby enabling the beam to be split between thedetector 1032 and the wavefront sensor (WFS) 1030. A wavefront sensor1030 is a device for measuring aberrations in an optical wavefront(e.g., points where the wave has the same phase as the sinusoid) andcontrolling the deformable mirror 1024 to correct and flatten theoptical wavefront.

Lens 15 1026 and lens 16 1028 may also focus and collimate the light toproject to the wave front sensor 1030 and/or detector 1032.

FIG. 10b depicts another example simplified spectrometer optical path1034 in some embodiments. Similar to FIG. 10a , the light sources 1036and 1002 a-n project desired wavelengths along the optical path 1034through the sample 1010 and then through a vortex mask 1016 to adetector 1032. The vortex mask 1016 may assist with improved signalmeasurement and signal boosting. As such, measurements of the resultingsignal enable a discriminator to detect viruses and/or substancesrelated to viruses (e.g., proteins) to detect infections that werepreviously too faint to detect. In this example, different from FIG. 10a, the vortex mask 1016 and the optional lyot stop 1020 has been moved toafter the deformable mirror 1024.

In various embodiments (e.g., in any spectrometer discussed herein), thebeam size may be narrowed to ensure that the beam passes through thecuvette and not clip a corner or edge of the cuvette. The beam sized maybe 4 mm from the light source (e.g., at the entrance aperture) forexample. Other examples of the beam size may be 4 mm to 8 mm. The lensfrom M2 1012 may be reduced to 3.2 mm on the deformable mirror 1024.Other examples of the beam size may be 3 mm to 4 mm. In someembodiments, lens 1006 and 1014 reduce the beam to the deformable mirror1024. FIG. 11a depicts a measurement of the aperture of an entranceaperture as being 6 mm in one example. In this example, the apertureaccommodates an optical beam with a 6 mm diameter. FIG. 11b depicts ameasurement of an optical beam received and reflected by a deformablemirror in some embodiments. In this example, the deformable mirroraccommodates an optical beam of a 3.2 mm diameter received from one ormore lenses along the optical path 1034.

In various embodiments, the optical path 1034 includes a vortex mask1016 but not a lyot mask 1020. In other embodiments, the optical path1034 includes a vortex mask 1016 and a lyot mask 1020.

Light sources 1036 and 1002 a-n each project light at a differentwavelength. In some embodiments, a laser projects coherent light througha differential grating to separate the wavelengths. In otherembodiments, different light sources may project different wavelengths(1002 a may be a different wavelength from 1004 b and the like). Each Snmay be a different and distinct wavelength as compared to all othersources.

Example wavelengths include, for example, 860 nm, 810 nm, 780 nm, and735 nm. These wavelengths may, for example, be useful in detectingevidence of COVID-19 infection in a breath sample collected from patron.

The light sources 1036 and 1002 a-n may be or include fiveco-bore-sighted laser sources that create a light source with an 8 mmcollimated beam. The light source S0 1036 may be a control wavelength.In some embodiments, the light source S0 1036 is 635 nm.

The light sources 1002 a-n and/or the light source 1036 may be orinclude five co-bore-sighted laser sources that create a light sourcewith an 8 mm collimated beam. Each light source 1036 and 1002 a-n may beor include an FC fiber connected to an achromatic collimator that setsthe output beam width to 8 mm. In one example, light sources 1036 and1002 a-n are diode laser sources of various wavelengths. Collimatedlight from each light source 1036 and 1002 a-n is reflected from thesurface of a 55/45 beam splitter or beam comber (BC1-BC4).

In some embodiments, the spectrometer may include a white light source.In this configuration, the FC connected fiber from a laser diode sourceSi is replaced with a fiber fed light source from a tungsten halogenbulb projecting white light.

Beam combiners 1004 a-1004 n each may allow some wavelengths to passwhile reflecting at least one wavelength (e.g., combining opticalwavelengths). In one example, beam combiner 1004 a may reflect light ata first wavelength from source 1002 a and the beam combiner 1004 a mayallow other wavelengths to pass through (e.g., light from sources 1002b-1002 n). The light from each source may be projected through lens 1006a. Lens 1006 a may be a collimator to collimate the light received fromthe light sources.

Reflective surfaces 1008 and 1012 may reflect all light from thesources. In one example, light from sources 1002 a-1002 n is reflectedby reflective surface 1008 through sample chamber 1010. The samplechamber 1010 may contain the breath sample, saliva, or other sample froma patron. In various embodiments, the sample chamber 1010 is or containsthe cuvette 416. In another example, the sample chamber 1010 is orcontains transparent substrates 500. The light from the sources passthrough the sample chamber 1010 and then is reflective by reflectivesurfaces 1012.

The second section of the optical path 1034 propagates the collimatedbeam through a scattering sample of the sample chamber 1010. In oneexample, an 8 mm collimated beam from the light source is reflectedperpendicularly from reflective surface M1 1008 through a sample cuvetteholder (i.e., the sample chamber 1010). In this example, the entranceaperture of the sample chamber 1010 has a 9 mm diameter. The samplechamber 1010 may contain a sample in a liquid medium and may have awidth of 10 mm perpendicular to the beam and a length parallel to thebeam of 2 mm.

In one example, the sample chamber 1010 may be filled with approximately1 ml of liquid so the full 8 mm beam passes through the sample. Theresidual collimated beam and the light scattered off the sample may thenreflected perpendicularly off of reflective surface M2 1012 and exits tothe next section of the optical path.

Lens 1006 may collimate the light and L2 1014 may focus the light on thedeformable mirror 1024. Collimated light from the sample chamber 1010may be incident on lens L1 1006. Lenses L1 (e.g., f1=75 mm) and L2(e.g., f2=30 mm) may be separated by a distance D12=f1+f2=105 mm. Inthis example, the light leaving lens L2 1014 is collimated with a beamsize of 3.2 mm. The collimated beam is incident on a BMC MEMS deformablemirror 1024 composed of, in this example, an equal spaced, 12×12actuator grid array, where each actuator is separated by 400 microns.

The deformable mirror 1024 may, in some embodiment, may control the wavefront of the light based on information received from the wave frontsensor 1030. In this example, the light may magnify and/or enhance thelight of the optical path. Control of the deformable mirror 1024 mayallow for control of the wave front of the light to direct a flat wavefront to the detector 1032. It will be appreciated that, in someexamples, the optical path 1000 may not have a deformable mirror 1024.In that case, the optical path 1000 may not have a beam splitter or awave front sensor WFS 1030.

Light then is further focused by lens 1018 on the vortex mask 1016. Thevortex coronagraph 1016 may be created by first constructing a 4f beamrelay using 2 matching 75 mm lenses, L3 (f3=75 mm) and L4 (f4=75 mm).Lens L3 1018 may be placed a distance equal to the focal length of lensL3 away from the DM (D3=75 mm). Lens L3 1018 and L4 1022 may beseparated by a distance D34=f3+f4=150 mm.

In some embodiments, a collection of monochromatic vortex masks (VM)matched to the input laser diodes are loaded into a filter wheel andplaced in the focal plane between L3 1018 and L4 1022. The filter wheelmay be mounted to a 3-axis translation stage to provide fine positioncontrol for vortex mask alignment. In various embodiments (e.g., any ofexamples depicted in FIGS. 10a-c ), the irradiance at the entrance ofthe vortex mask may be 34 micrometers.

Lens L4 1022 may be a collimator lens and/or may focus the light on theLyot stop 1020. In this example, a Lyot stop (LS) 1020 is place afterlens L4 1022 at a distance of D4=75 mm. Different Lyot stop 1020 sizesmay be used. In one example, a lyot stop 1020 uses a 0.8×Dpupil˜=2.56 mmaperture.

The Lyot stop 1020 may be a lyot-mask (e.g., lyot stop) such as aLyot-plane phase mask, which enables improved contrast performance. TheLyot-plane phase mask may relocate residual light away from a region ofthe image plane, thereby reducing light noise from the sources of thespectrometer and improves sensitivity to off-axis scattered light.

In between lens L4 1022 and the Lyot Stop (LS) 1020 a 92/8 beam splitter(BS) is placed in the beam, the 8% reflection is passed into aShack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (WFS) 1030 which is also a distanceD4=75 mm after lens L4 1022.

The WFS 1030 may measure the wave front of the light and control thedeformable mirror to flatten the wavefront on the vortex mask 1016(otherwise signature artifacts may be created).

It may be appreciated that the system may be configured for broadbanduse by replacing the monochromatic vortex masks with broadband masksthat are matched to the new set of narrowband filters in the detectoroptics.

The residual light that exits the Lyot stop 1020 is passed through acircular polarization analyzer (P2) 1040 that is matched to the circularpolarizer 1038 in the light source system. The light may then passedthrough a Filter wheel with 10 nm narrowband pass filters (NBF) 1042which may have central wavelengths that are matched to the laser diodesources. The residual light may then be focused onto a detector by lensL5 1026 (e.g., f5=7.5 mm). it may be appreciated that the high contrast(>10-4) performance of the light suppression will be limited by thepolarization purity of the beam, so care may be taken to maximizepolarization purity.

In some embodiments, a linear array may be used if white light isinstead used. In this case the detector is replaced with a fiber mountedmulti-mode fiber with a fiber core size greater than 10 microns (Typicaluse is 400 microns). When setup in the white light configuration, thenarrowband filters may be setup to have the same bandpass as thebroadband

The detector 1032 detects spectral components (e.g., intensities ofreceived wavelengths). In various embodiments, the detector 1032 is partof a spectrometer, a photodiode, or an LCD camera. The detector maygenerate measurements indicating intensities of wavelengths from theincoherent light of the optical path. The detector may provideabsorption r transmittance measurements related to the particles andcomponents of the breath sample.

In one example, the detector 1032 is in communication with a processorto assess and generate the measurement results. The measurement resultsmay then be used to identify if the patron that produced the breathsample is infected.

The measurement results may be received by a discriminator. Adiscriminator may categorize or determine if the patron is infected byassessing and/or analyzing the measurement results. The discriminatormay assess the measurement results using a logistic regressiontechnique, an AI approach (e.g., convolutional neural network), and/orother statistical methods. In some embodiments, the measurement resultsmay be used to create and/or train the discriminator.

FIG. 10c is another example of an optical path of a spectrometer in someembodiments. In the example described with regarding to FIG. 10c , eachcomponent will include a location measured directly to the previouscomponent along the optical path (in the direction against incominglight) and another location measured directly along the optical path tothe entrance aperture (e.g., the detector may be 1239.257 mm along theoptical path from the entrance aperture 1050). These locations are byway of example. It will be appreciated that the components may belocated in many different positions relative to each other, the entranceaperture, and/or the light source.

The path may include an entrance aperture 1050. The entrance aperture1050 may have a beam aperture. For example, the entrance aperture 1050may accommodate a beam diameter of 6 mm for a beam of wavelength 635 nm.It may be appreciated that the entrance aperture 1050 may accommodate abeam diameter of any size (e.g., between 4-8 mm) and at any wavelength(e.g., 592 nm-700 nm). The entrance aperture 1050 may be any distancefrom the light source (e.g., 30 mm).

The polarizer 1052 may be made of any material, such as calcite. Thepolarizer 1052 may be 63.9463 mm from the light source and 30 mm alongthe light path to the entrance aperture 1050. The polarizer 1052 maypolarize light from the light source received via the entrance aperture1050.

The quarter wave plate (QWP) 1054 may reflect light received from thepolarizer 1052 to the cuvette 1056. The quarter wave plate 1054 may be99.978 mm from the polarizer 1052 and 93.9463 from the entrance aperture1050.

The cuvette 1056 may contain a sample from a patient or user that is tobe measured. The cuvette may be located 124.1297 mm from the quarterwave plate 1054 and 193.9243 mm from the entrance aperture 1050.

The quarter wave plate 1058 may receive light received from through thecuvette 1056 and may reflect all or part of the light to lens 1060.

Lens 1060 may receive light from the quarter wave plate 1058 and allowthe light to pass to the lens 1062. The lens 1060 may include, forexample, a first side surface radius of curvature 108.07 mm and theother surface (the second side) may be plano. In this example, the lens1060 may have a thickness of 10 mm and be made of a material such asN-Bk7. It will be appreciated that the surface radius of curvature maybe many different sizes (e.g., 90 to 120 mm), the other surface may beplano or curved, the lens 1060 may have any different thickness (e.g.,8-12 mm), and be made of any material or combination of materials. Thelens 1060 may be 318.28 mm from the cuvette 1056 or the quarter waveplate 1058. The lens 1060 may be 318.054 from the entrance aperture1050.

Lens 1062 may receive light from the lens 1060 and allow the light topass to the deformable mirror 1064. The lens 1062 may include, forexample, a first side being plano and a second side having a surfaceradius of curvature −57.64 mm. In this example, the lens 1062 may have athickness of 10 mm and be made of a material such as N-Bk7. It will beappreciated that the surface radius of curvature may be many differentsizes (e.g., −45 to −75 mm), the other surface may be plano or curved,the lens 1062 may have any different thickness (e.g., 8-12 mm), and bemade of any material or combination of materials. The lens 1062 may be93.9994 mm from the lens 1060. The lens 1062 may be 636.582 mm from theentrance aperture 1050.

Deformable mirror 1064 may receive light from the lens 1062 and projectthe light to the lens 1066. The deformable mirror 1064 may be 78.834 mmfrom the lens 1062 and may be 760.5814 mm from the entrance aperture1050.

Lens 1066 may receive light from the deformable mirror 1064 and allowthe light to pass to the vortex mask 1068. The lens 1066 may include,for example, a first side having a surface radius of curvature 38.6 mmand a second side being plano. In this example, the lens 1066 may have athickness of 10 mm and be made of a material such as N-Bk7. It will beappreciated that the surface radius of curvature may be many differentsizes (e.g., 25 to 55 mm), the other surface may be plano or curved, thelens 1066 may have any different thickness (e.g., 8-12 mm), and be madeof any material or combination of materials. The lens 1066 may be76.3095 mm from deformable mirror 1064. The lens 1066 may be 805.4154 mmfrom the entrance aperture 1050.

The vortex mask 1068 may receive light from the lens 1066 and allow (atleast some) of the light to pass to lens 1070. The vortex mask 1068 maybe 72.0435 mm from the lens 1066 and may be 881.7249 mm from theentrance aperture 1050. FIG. 12 depicts the irradiance at the entranceto the vortex mask 1068 is 34 micrometers in one example.

FIGS. 13a and 13b depicts modulus and phase of the field after thevortex mask 1068 in some embodiments. FIG. 13a depicts a field modulus(amplitude) after the vortex mask 1068 in some embodiments. FIG. 13bdepicts a field phase (radians) after the vortex mask 1068 in someembodiments.

Lens 1070 may receive light from the vortex mask 1068 and allow thelight to pass to the lyot stop 1072. The lens 1070 may include, forexample, a first side being plano and a second side having a surfaceradius of curvature −38.6 mm. In this example, the lens 1068 may have athickness of 10 mm and be made of a material such as N-Bk7. It will beappreciated that the surface radius of curvature may be many differentsizes (e.g., −30 to −45 mm), the other surface may be plano or curved,the lens 1070 may have any different thickness (e.g., 8-12 mm), and bemade of any material or combination of materials. The lens 1070 may be78.934 mm from the vortex mask 1068. The lens 1070 may be 953.7684 mmfrom the entrance aperture 1050.

The lyot stop 1072 may receive light from the lens 1070 and allow (atleast some) of the light to pass to beam splitter 1074. The lyot stop1072 may be 57.1156 mm from the lens 1070 and may be 1,032.702 mm fromthe entrance aperture 1050.

FIGS. 14a and 14b depicts interior irradiance at the lyot stop 1072 insome embodiments. The vortex mask 1068 may produce a “ring of fire” atthe lyot stop plane. The interior irradiance may be approximately 10⁻⁴of the ring irradiance and the total power may be, for example, 9.33.FIG. 14a depicts an example interior irradiance of the lyot stop 1072 inone example. FIG. 14b is a graph indicating a 10⁻³ contrast for a lyotstop radius of 1.25 mm in one example.

The beam splitter 1074 may receive light from lyot stop 1072 and allow(at least some) of the light to pass to polarizer 1076. The beamsplitter 1074 may be 68.7634 mm from the lyot stop 1072 and may be1,089.818 mm from the entrance aperture 1050. The beam splitter 1074 maybe configured to measure all or some of the received light, compare thecharacteristics to criteria or a reference, and control the deformablemirror 1064 to control the light beam.

The polarizer 1076 may receive light from beam splitter 1074 and allowthe light to pass to lens 1078. The polarizer 1076 may be 50 mm from thebeam splitter 1074 and may be 1,180.581 mm from the entrance aperture1050.

Lens 1078 may receive light from the polarizer 1076 and allow the lightto pass to the detector 1080. The lens 1078 may include, for example, afirst side having a surface radius of curvature 8.89 mm and a conicconstant of −0.717. The second side may be plano. In this example, thelens 1078 may have a thickness of 2.5 mm and be made of a material suchas N-SF11. It will be appreciated that the surface radius of curvaturemay be many different sizes (e.g., 2-15 mm), the other surface may beplano or curved, the lens 1078 may have any different thickness (e.g.,1-5 mm), and be made of any material or combination of materials. Thelens 1078 may be 8.676 mm from the polarizer 1076. The lens 1078 may be1,230.581 mm from the entrance aperture 1050.

The detector 1080 may receive light from the lens 1078. The detector maybe or include a camera such as a CCD. In this example, the detector 1080may be 1,239.257 mm from the entrance aperture 1050.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for identifying infection from spectrometer datain some embodiments. In some embodiments, a spectrometer as discussedherein may take measurements of a patient's sample (e.g., saliva,breath, or the like). The measurements may then be analyzed to detectinfection. Different viruses may produce different wavelengthintensities. As a result, a virus may be associated with a “signature”or “thumbprint” of spectral intensities that may be detected.

In step 1502, a digital device may receive spectrogram data from aspectrometer as discussed herein (e.g., with or without a vortexspectrometer and lyot stop, including, for example, the spectrometerdepicted in FIG. 10a, 10b , or 10 c). The digital device may be local orremote to the spectrometer that produced the spectrometer results. Inone example, the spectrometer may be a health screening system asdiscussed herein. The digital device may receive raw spectrogram data orspectrogram data after transmission and reconstruction.

In step 1504, the digital device may perform dark noise correction. Darknoise arises from changes in thermal energy of the spectrometer and/orcamera (e.g., detector). The increase of signal also carries astatistical fluctuation known as dark current noise.

Measurements of dark noise may be made using digital numbers. Digitalnumbers are assigned to a pixel in the form of a binary integer, oftenin the range of 0-255 (a byte). A single pixel may have several digitalnumber variables corresponding to different bands recorded.

FIG. 16a depicts a test spectra and FIG. 16b depicts a reference spectrain two examples. Here, the shape of the spectra is observed, and thesignal may be, in this example, about 60,000 digital numbers. Theresulting dark noise in comparing the reference to the test has a meanvalue of about 600 digital numbers. FIG. 16c depicts the mean value ofthe dark noise in one example.

It will be appreciated that the dark noise for a particular spectrometermay not change. As a result, the spectrometer may be tested in a factoryto identify dark noise and then a dark noise correction may be appliedto spectrogram data throughout the day or going forward. In someembodiments, the spectrometer may be tested daily or at some otherperiods of time, and then the dark noise detected during testing may beused to correct spectrogram data.

In various embodiments, the dark noise caused by the spectrometer may befiltered from the data. By identifying dark noise and filtering the darknoise from the spectrometer data, the signal (e.g., meaningful spectralintensities) may be boosted.

In various embodiments, the dark noise of a particular spectrometer maybe measured. This may be done by letting the spectrometer warm up andmeasuring water and/or a common transport medium. Noise caused bythermal changes may be detected by the detector (e.g., by a CCD camera).Multiple measurements may be taken (e.g., at the same time or over time)and the dark noise may be averaged, aggregated, and/or otherwisecollected.

FIG. 16d depicts a test spectra of dark noise corrected in one example.FIG. 16e depicts a reference spectra of dark noise corrected in oneexample.

In step 1506, the digital device performs spectrogram normalization.Variations from sample to sample may create issues. In some embodiments,an autoexposure is used. For example, the digital device and/or thespectrometer may take an image of the spectral intensities and determinelocation in a fixed integration of time and determine the integrationtime to get to a desired measurement (e.g., 60,000 digital numbers).

In some embodiments, reference data may be taken (e.g., by using thespectrometer on water or VTM) and a location of a peak intensityidentified. The digital device may scale the spectral intensities fromthat wavelength. The reference information may be taken using water or aVTM to determine peak intensity. The reference may be taken at thefactory, once a day, or at any time.

This correction may assist flat fielding of the CCD camera where somepixels are not as sensitive as other pixels in the CCD camera (which asa result, may detect information that is not caused by differences inintensity but rather differences in chip sensitivities).

For example, a determination of where a peak occurs in the reference maybe performed. Then all references may be scaled to that peak intensity.

FIG. 17a depicts an example test spectra including spectra normalizationaveraged over instances. FIG. 17b depicts an example reference spectraincluding spectra normalization averaged over instances.

FIG. 17c depicts a test spectra with spectra normalization for the firstsample, all instances. FIG. 17d depicts an example reference spectraincluding spectra normalization for the first sample, all instances.

In step 1508, the digital device performs reference calibration. In oneexample, the digital device takes the ratio of the reference to thesignal and then subtracts the reference. The curve may be characteristicof the substance. A flat line would indicate no information.

${Signal} = \frac{{R_{-}1B} - {S_{-}1B}}{R_{-}1B}$

FIG. 18a depicts an example test spectra including spectra normalizationaveraged over instances. FIG. 18b depicts an example reference spectraincluding spectra normalization averaged over instances.

In step 1510, the digital device performs background removal andestimation. In one example, the digital device takes the ratio of thereference to the signal and then subtracts the reference.

It will be appreciated that samples are often more negative (uninfected)then positive. For example, the positive rate may be only 5% or less ofall samples (e.g., 20 times more negatives than positives). In variousembodiments, a background pool is created. Negative results may beclustered into families.

In various embodiments, the digital device groups results according tosimilarities. For example, the digital device may select two negativeresults and subtract them to get a minimum energy which may be used fora characteristic curve. In some embodiments, measurements of any numberof samples may be divided into levels (e.g., based on similaritiesand/or measurements). There may be any number of levels. For example,similarities or measurements may be ordered or ranked based onintensity, energy, and/or wavelength. The ordered or ranked informationmay be divided into sets based on equal or unequal thresholds.

Each of the measurements or sets may be compared to each other and aminimum may be taken to get characteristics for each level. A pool ofnegatives (compare positive to negative) may be obtained. A pool ofnegatives refers to a collection of negative results (e.g., no infectionindicated) as opposed to positive results (e.g., infection indicated).

The result may be assessed to determine the curve. A flat line, forexample, may contain no information while a curve may indicateinformation related to virus infection. The digital device may removethe background from future signals/measurements to remove the backgroundsignature of saliva and VTM itself. The background pool of informationmay also be determined and minimized to find the minimum energy.

FIG. 19a depicts an example test spectra of positive (infection) resultswith background suppression. FIG. 19b depicts an example test spectra ofnegative (infection) results with background suppression.

FIG. 19c depicts an example test spectra of positive (infection) resultswith background suppression. FIG. 19d depicts an example test spectra ofnegative (infection) results with background suppression.

In step 1512, the digital device may perform lucky imaging backgroundminimization. In various embodiments, the digital device and/orspectrometer may make many measurements of a sample. The digital devicemay assess the different samples to identify the sample that providesthe most energy. For example, the digital device may perform backgroundestimation and removal from any number of images (e.g., all or a subset)to identify the results that express the most information or anindication of a positive or negative result.

In step 1514, the digital device may perform wavelet scalogramconversion. In various embodiments, the digital device performs awavelet decomposition. A wavelet may be selected and a cross correlationperformed along the signal to measure intensities (e.g., weight on leftof graph and wavelength along the X axis).

With background estimation, the difference between negatives andpositives can be depicted. Intensity variations appear in high frequencywavelets which may indicate a spectral signature for infection (e.g.,coronavirus).

FIG. 20a depicts a negative result scalogram conversion after waveletcorrelation. FIG. 20b depicts a positive result scalogram conversionafter wavelet correlation. FIG. 20c depicts a difference between thepositive and negative result scalogram conversion depicting thedifference and indicating the signature of infection.

In various embodiments, the digital device may perform scalogramconversion after background removal to identify if the signature (e.g.,intensities of absorption lines associated with a particular infection,virus-related protein, or virus) or pattern is present. In variousembodiments, the digital device may perform the inverse wavelengthtransform.

Variations from sample to sample may create issues. In some embodiments,an autoexposure is used. For example, the digital device and/or thespectrometer may take an image of the spectral intensities and determinelocation in a fixed integration of time and determine the integrationtime to get to a desired measurement (e.g., 60,000 digital numbers).

FIG. 21 depicts examples of lucky imaging in some embodiments. Invarious embodiments, the spectrometer with a vortex mask and/or a lyotstop may take multiple measurements of the same sample. The spectrometeror processor may select one or more images contain information mostindicative of the presence of the virus (e.g., the spectral signature ofthe virus) or lack of presence of the virus. For example, luck imagingmay utilize multiple measurements to select the image with the bestrelative clarity and accuracy (e.g., images that depict the energy forthe wavelengths of interest associated with a virus). FIG. 21 depictsspectrometer output image 2120 which is improved using lucky imaging torendered image 2130 which is further improved through lucky imaging toimage 2140. There may be any number of measurements used for luckyimaging.

Combined with lucky imaging, a signal may be strengthened by processingmany spectrogram snapshots together. In one example, multiple snapshotsmay be taken of the breath sample using a spectrometer with a vortexmask 840 as discussed herein. Lucky imaging enables using multiplemeasurements to improve clarity, reduce noise, and detect previouslyfaded signals related to virus infection.

In various embodiments, the system described herein detects COVID-19infections with a tested 87.5% accuracy. The detection and determinationmay take under 10 milliseconds.

A discriminator may also be used, in some embodiments. The discriminatormay receive results from the spectrometer, assess the information, andprovide an indication based on the results (e.g., classification ofinfection or not infected). In one example described herein, scalogramsare collected and parts of the scalograms (e.g. the parts associatedwith the signature of the virus being tested for) may be comparedagainst references or thresholds. Based on the comparison, thediscriminator (e.g., classifier) may provide an indication of infectionor not infected (or indeterminant).

In other embodiments, a convolutional neural network (CNN) may be usedas a discriminator to identify measurements indicating infection andnon-infection. In various embodiments, a neural network may be trainedusing measurements from the vortex spectrometer as discussed herein. Theneural network may also be trained using laboratory test results toconfirm those patrons that are infected and those that are not infected.The neural network may receive or generate a set of features base on theoutput (i.e., measurement results) of the vortex spectrometer. Theneural network may then be tested to confirm predictions against knowninfection/noninfection results.

In one example, the neural network may identify wavelength intensitiesin the ranges of 735 nm 780 nm 810 nm, and 860 nm as being indicative ofinfection.

It will be appreciated that any discrimination may be utilized toidentify infection and noninfected patrons and/or samples. For example,any statistical method, such as logistic regression analysis, may beutilized.

FIG. 22 depicts a health screening environment 2200 in some embodiments.The health screening environment 2200 includes health communicationdevices 22302 a-2202 n in communication with a health screening system22306 over communication network 2204. The health communication devices2202 a-n are any type of digital device that may provide vortexspectrometer measurement results. A vortex spectrometer is anyspectrometer with a vortex mask within the optical path.

The health communication devices 2202 a-2202 n may be, for example, anydigital device. A digital device is any device with a processor andmemory. In one example, health communication devices 2202 a-2202 n mayinclude computers in communication with one or more vortexspectrometers. In another example, the health communication devices 2202a-2202 n may each be a different vortex spectrometer capable of networkcommunication.

In one example, patrons may each provide a sample. Samples may includeexhalation into a breathalyzer, exhalation onto a fogging window, swabs,saliva swabs, or the like. Each of the samples may be placed within oneor more vortex spectrometers for testing. The measurements results maybe provided over the communication network 2204 to the health screeningsystem 2206. Although the health screening system 2206 may be on anetwork (e.g., cloud-based), the health screening system 2206 may beon-premises (e.g., local to where the samples were taken or where thevortex spectrometer performed the test).

The health screening system 2206 may receive the measurement results andanalyze the results. In various embodiments, the health screening system2206 may receive many different measurement results from many differentvortex spectrometers. The patrons and/or the vortex spectrometers may begeographically remote from each other. The health screening system 2206may provide centralized testing and return health screening indications(e.g., categories) back to the health communication device that providedthe measurement results.

By centralizing the health screening system 2206 on a network, thehealth screening system 2206 may take advantage of greater processingand memory resources, thereby enabling greater computational efficiency,speed, and scalability. Further, the health screening system 2206 mayutilize the measurement results received from many different people andgeographically diverse sources to assist with training statisticaland/or AI models and curation.

FIG. 23 depicts an example health screening system 2206 in someembodiments. The health screening system 2206 may include acommunication module 2302, a discriminator 2304, a reporting module2306, a training and curation module 2308, and a data storage module2310

The health screening system 22306 may be configured to aggregateinformation from across patients and test results to provide reporting.The reporting may be in real-time. In various embodiments, the healthscreening system 2206 may, at the simplest level, receive test resultsand/or vortex spectrometer measurements from any number of patients inany number of locations. The health screening system 2206 may provideindications of infection (e.g., infected, not infected, likely infected,unlikely infected, or unknown) back to the device that provided themeasurement results. In some embodiments, the health screening system2206 may aggregate the information and provide reporting indicating thatthe number of virus infections detections and the number of testperformed.

The communication module 2302 may receive spectrometer measurements ofsamples provided by patrons. In one example the communication module2302 may receive a variety of different spectrometer measurements fromany number of spectrometers regarding any number of patron samples. Thepatron sample may be sample of the patron's breath, saliva, or swabsample, or the like. The communication module 2302 may receivespectrometer measurements from any number of health communicationdevices 2202 a-n.

The discriminator 2304 may receive and analyze the spectrometermeasurements to categorize the results. Categories may include, forexample, infected, not infected, likely infected, likely not infected,unknown, or any other labels. The discriminator 2304 may utilizestatistical approaches, such as logistic regression, and/or AI modelingtechniques such as convolutional neural networks.

In the example discussed herein, the discriminator 2304 may utilizescalograms of those known to be infected to identify areas of the graphassociated with infection (e.g., by comparing scalograms of those knownto not be infected). Infection or lack of infection, for example, may beconfirmed by reagent test or other testing. The indication of infectionbased on a part of the scalogram(s) may be used as a reference. New testresults may be used to generate information associated with all or partof the reference to indicate infection.

It will be appreciate that scalograms may not need to be generated toindicate infection. Rather, the discriminator 2304 may identifywavelength intensities from results of a vortex spectrometer associatedwith infection (e.g., as learned from the previous testing with knowninfections) and categorize those who are infected and not infected.

The degree to which new test results from new patients match thereference information (e.g., degree of confidence or fit) may becompared to a threshold to determine infection (e.g., above a particulardegree of confidence or fit) or lack of infection (e.g., below aparticular degree of confidence or fit).

Once the discriminator 2304 analyzes and categorizes the spectrometerresults, infection indications such as health screening indications(e.g., “infected” or ‘not-infected”) may be returned to the healthcommunication device that provided the original spectrometermeasurements.

The discriminator 2304 may also store these spectrometer measurementsand or results of the categorization analysis in the data storage module2310.

In various embodiments, the discriminator 2304 may apply a logistic fit(e.g., a probability curve). Alternately, the discriminator 2434 mayperform as a match filter.

In one example, the discriminator 2304 assesses a negative case (e.g.,non-infected case) using large ensemble sampling. Similarly, thediscriminator 2304 may assess a positive case. The discriminator 2304may create a spectral curve of a negative case (of non-infection) andspectral curve of a positive case (e.g., of infection). Thediscriminator 2304 may create a characteristic curve for negative usinga mean estimation over a sample size (e.g., 75,000 instances) afternormalization. The negative characteristic curve is then used as areference. The discriminator 2304 may take the (reference sample−thepositive sample) divided by the reference sample to create acharacteristic curve for infection. The discriminator 2304 may comparenew spectral measurements and curves to the characteristic curve todetermine likelihood of infection or categories of infection (e.g.,based on the degree of fit to the characteristic curve for infection). Athreshold may be set based on how known data fits the curve (e.g., basedon known infection information and known uninfected information).

In some embodiments, the discriminator 2304 may utilize a bandpass ofwavelengths using the characteristic curve for infection to create awindow (e.g., a bandpass of wavelengths), assess mean value and standarddeviation of the value, roll the window through the spectrum anditerate. The discriminator 2304 may plot the standard deviation vs. themean for positive and negatives to identify wavelength bands thatseparate. This may be used as a method for separating information—forcertain wavelengths, there may be significant separation and therebyenabling easy identification of infection vs. noninfection.

The reporting module 236 may assess and aggregate the informationincluding spectrometer measurements from any location, any spectrometer,any patrons, or the like as well as the categorized labels. As a result,the reporting module 2306 may be able to provide reports regardinginfection rates in geographic areas, types of patrons, success ofvaccinations, and/or the like.

The training and curation module 2308 may training and/or curate thestatistical approaches and/or AI modeling techniques based on thereceived spectrometer measurements and the results from thediscriminator 2304. It will be appreciated that the training andcuration module 2308 will enable improvements is statistical analysisand AI modeling because of the variety and amount of data received fromnumerous geographically remote and diverse sources. As a result, thetraining and curation module 2308 may improve accuracy, speed ofanalysis, and scalability of future testing.

The data storage module 2310 may store spectrometer measurements and/oroutput from the discriminator 2304. In some embodiments, data stored inthe data storage module 2310 may be stripped of personally identifyinginformation. Since the stored data may be used for aggregate reporting,training, and/or curation, personally identifying information may not benecessary to store.

The data storage module 2310 may be encrypted. Further, communicationbetween the health communication devices 2202 a-n and the communicationmodule 2302 may be encrypted (e.g., via VPN) and/or authenticated (e.g.,through the use of encryption keys and/or digital certificates).

A module may be hardware, software, or a combination of both hardwareand software. A hardware module may be a chip (e.g., ASIC) or the like.Software may be executed by a processor. Although a limited number ofmodules are depicted in the figure, there may be any number of modules.Further, individual modules may perform any number of functions,including functions of multiple modules as shown herein.

FIG. 24 depicts a block diagram of an example digital device 2400according to some embodiments. Digital device 2400 is shown in the formof a general-purpose computing device. Digital device 2400 includesprocessor 2402, RAM 2404, communication interface 2406, input/outputdevice 2408, storage 2410, and a system bus 2412 that couples varioussystem components including storage 2410 to processor 2402.

System bus 2412 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus.

Digital device 2400 typically includes a variety of computer systemreadable media. Such media may be any available media that is accessibleby the digital device 2400 and it includes both volatile and nonvolatilemedia, removable and non-removable media.

In some embodiments, processor 2402 is configured to execute executableinstructions (e.g., programs). In some embodiments, the processor 2402comprises circuitry or any processor capable of processing theexecutable instructions.

In some embodiments, RAM 2404 stores data. In various embodiments,working data is stored within RAM 2404. The data within RAM 2404 may becleared or ultimately transferred to storage 2410.

In some embodiments, communication interface 2406 is coupled to anetwork via communication interface 2406. Such communication can occurvia Input/Output (I/O) device 2408. Still yet, the digital device 2400may communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet).

In some embodiments, input/output device 2408 is any device that inputsdata (e.g., mouse, keyboard, stylus) or outputs data (e.g., speaker,display, virtual reality headset).

In some embodiments, storage 2410 can include computer system readablemedia in the form of volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM)and/or cache memory. Storage 2410 may further include otherremovable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile computer system storagemedia. By way of example only, storage 2410 can be provided for readingfrom and writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (notshown and typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, amagnetic disk drive for reading from and writing to a removable,non-volatile magnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical diskdrive for reading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile opticaldisk such as a CDROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. Insuch instances, each can be connected to system bus 2412 by one or moredata media interfaces. As will be further depicted and described below,storage 2410 may include at least one program product having a set(e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to carry outthe functions of embodiments. In some embodiments, RAM 2404 is foundwithin storage 2410.

Program/utility, having a set (at least one) of program modules may bestored in storage 2410 by way of example, and not limitation, as well asan operating system, one or more application programs, other programmodules, and program data. Each of the operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, and program data or somecombination thereof, may include an implementation of a networkingenvironment. Program modules generally carry out the functions and/ormethodologies of embodiments as described herein. A module may behardware (e.g., ASIC, circuitry, and/or the like), software, or acombination of both.

It should be understood that although not shown, other hardware and/orsoftware components could be used in conjunction with the digital device2400. Examples include, but are not limited to: microcode, devicedrivers, redundant processing units, and external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems, etc.

Exemplary embodiments are described herein in detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings. However, the present disclosure can beimplemented in various manners, and thus should not be construed to belimited to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, thoseembodiments are provided for the thorough and complete understanding ofthe present disclosure, and completely conveying the scope of thepresent disclosure to those skilled in the art.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of one or moreembodiments may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects may take the form of an entirely hardwareembodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware,resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining softwareand hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a“circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects may take the formof a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband/or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects discussedherein may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages, including an object oriented programming language such asJava, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer,partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partlyon the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely onthe remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remotecomputer may be connected to the user's computer through any type ofnetwork, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network(WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (forexample, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Aspects of some of the embodiments are described herein with referenceto flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in anontransitory computer readable medium that can direct a computer, otherprogrammable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function ina particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computerreadable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructionswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

It may be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications may be made and other embodiments may be used withoutdeparting from the broader scope of the discussion herein. Therefore,these and other variations upon the example embodiments are intended tobe covered by the disclosure herein.

1. A system comprising: at least one processor; and memory containinginstructions to configure the at least one processor to perform thesteps of: receiving, from a first health communication device in a firstlocation over a communication network, a first health record, the firsthealth record including first wavelength measurements generated by afirst spectrometer, the first spectrometer having generated the firstwavelength measurements based on absorption and transmittance of a firstlight projected through a biological sample of a first patient;comparing the first wavelength measurements to a set of referencemeasurements; when a subset of the first wavelength measurements matchor exceed at least a subset of the set of reference measurements,providing a first message to the first health communication over thecommunication network, the first message indicating presence of apathogen in the biological sample of the first patient; receiving, froma second health communication device in a second location over thecommunication network, the second location being remote from the firstlocation, a second health record, the second health record includingsecond wavelength measurements generated by a second spectrometer, thesecond spectrometer having generated the second wavelength measurementsbased on absorption and transmittance of a second light projectedthrough a biological sample of a second patient; comparing the secondwavelength measurements to the set of reference measurements; and when asubset of the second wavelength measurements match or exceed at leastthe subset of the set of reference measurements, providing a secondmessage to the second health communication over the communicationnetwork, the second message indicating presence of a pathogen in thefirst biological sample of the first patient.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the instructions further configure the at least one processor toperform the steps of: when the subset of the first wavelengthmeasurements do not match or exceed at least a subset of the set ofreference measurements, providing a third message to the first healthcommunication over the communication network, the third messageindicating that a test did not indicate a condition of the firstpatient.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the first healthcommunication device is the first spectrometer.
 4. The system of claim1, wherein the set or reference measurements comprises 735 nm, 780 nm,810 nm, and 860 nm.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first messageindicates the presence of Covid-19 in the first sample.
 6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the first light is projected through a cuvettecontaining the first biological sample of the first patient.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the first wavelength measurements indicatewavelength intensities across a spectrum.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the set of reference measurements are determined by: identifyinga plurality of samples that have been previously confirmed as containingthe pathogen; projecting a third light through each of the samples byany number of spectrometers to generate a plurality of wavelengthmeasurements; for each of the plurality of wavelength measurements,removing noise measurements, the noise measurements being measured froma sample that does not contain the pathogen to crease plurality offiltered measurements; and based on a combination of filteredmeasurements, identify persistent wavelength intensities to be the setof reference measurements.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the firsthealth record identifies the first spectrometer, the instructionsfurther configure the at least one processor to perform the steps of:removing noise measurements from the first wavelength intensities, thenoise measurements being previously measured using the firstspectrometer, comparing the first wavelength measurements to the set ofreference measurements occurring after the noise measurements areremoved from the first wavelength intensities.
 10. A method comprising:receiving, from a first health communication device in a first locationover a communication network, a first health record, the first healthrecord including first wavelength measurements generated by a firstspectrometer, the first spectrometer having generated the firstwavelength measurements based on absorption and transmittance of a firstlight projected through a biological sample of a first patient;comparing the first wavelength measurements to a set of referencemeasurements; when a subset of the first wavelength measurements matchor exceed at least a subset of the set of reference measurements,providing a first message to the first health communication over thecommunication network, the first message indicating presence of apathogen in the biological sample of the first patient; receiving, froma second health communication device in a second location over thecommunication network, the second location being remote from the firstlocation, a second health record, the second health record includingsecond wavelength measurements generated by a second spectrometer, thesecond spectrometer having generated the second wavelength measurementsbased on absorption and transmittance of a second light projectedthrough a biological sample of a second patient; comparing the secondwavelength measurements to the set of reference measurements; and when asubset of the second wavelength measurements match or exceed at leastthe subset of the set of reference measurements, providing a secondmessage to the second health communication over the communicationnetwork, the second message indicating presence of a pathogen in thefirst biological sample of the first patient.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein the instructions further configure the at least oneprocessor to perform the steps of: when the subset of the firstwavelength measurements do not match or exceed at least a subset of theset of reference measurements, providing a third message to the firsthealth communication over the communication network, the third messageindicating that a test did not indicate a condition of the firstpatient.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the first healthcommunication device is the first spectrometer.
 13. The method of claim10, wherein the set or reference measurements comprises 735 nm, 780 nm,810 nm, and 860 nm.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the firstmessage indicates the presence of Covid-19 in the first sample.
 15. Themethod of claim 10, wherein the first light is projected through acuvette containing the first biological sample of the first patient. 16.The method of claim 10, wherein the first wavelength measurementsindicate wavelength intensities across a spectrum.
 17. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the set of reference measurements are determined by:identifying a plurality of samples that have been previously confirmedas containing the pathogen; projecting a third light through each of thesamples by any number of spectrometers to generate a plurality ofwavelength measurements; for each of the plurality of wavelengthmeasurements, removing noise measurements, the noise measurements beingmeasured from a sample that does not contain the pathogen to creaseplurality of filtered measurements; and based on a combination offiltered measurements, identify persistent wavelength intensities to bethe set of reference measurements.
 18. The method of claim 10, whereinthe first health record identifies the first spectrometer, the methodfurther comprising removing noise measurements from the first wavelengthintensities, the noise measurements being previously measured using thefirst spectrometer, comparing the first wavelength measurements to theset of reference measurements occurring after the noise measurements areremoved from the first wavelength intensities.
 19. A computer readablemedium containing executable instructions, the instructions beingexecutable by at least one processor, the method comprising: receiving,from a first health communication device in a first location over acommunication network, a first health record, the first health recordincluding first wavelength measurements generated by a firstspectrometer, the first spectrometer having generated the firstwavelength measurements based on absorption and transmittance of a firstlight projected through a biological sample of a first patient;comparing the first wavelength measurements to a set of referencemeasurements; when a subset of the first wavelength measurements matchor exceed at least a subset of the set of reference measurements,providing a first message to the first health communication over thecommunication network, the first message indicating presence of apathogen in the biological sample of the first patient; receiving, froma second health communication device in a second location over thecommunication network, the second location being remote from the firstlocation, a second health record, the second health record includingsecond wavelength measurements generated by a second spectrometer, thesecond spectrometer having generated the second wavelength measurementsbased on absorption and transmittance of a second light projectedthrough a biological sample of a second patient; comparing the secondwavelength measurements to the set of reference measurements; and when asubset of the second wavelength measurements match or exceed at leastthe subset of the set of reference measurements, providing a secondmessage to the second health communication over the communicationnetwork, the second message indicating presence of a pathogen in thefirst biological sample of the first patient.